May 24 – TLC – Crazy Sexy Cool

Tonight’s post will be a three-parter as I’ve got a few things to cover, starting with TLC. This is actually a pretty good CD, at least it starts out that way. I got a little bored with it after a while, but it was still a decent workout. I always liked “Red Light Special,” song and video, and love “Creep,” song, video, the whole production. This is a more mature TLC than when they first hit the scene a few years prior in the very early 90s. I remember seeing them on MTV, I being in my mid-30s at a time when they were just some smug punky girls in stupid clothes. I found them both annoying and quite appealing with catchy tunes like “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” and “Baby Baby Baby.” I found them even more appealing and much less annoying with Crazy Sexy Cool, which showed that they could very successfully go from punky girls to punky young women with better clothing selections. I guess I was a punky kid too once, but without their confidence and spunk.

The extent of the trouble my old trouble-buddy and I caused during her visit last weekend, was quite mild if not nonexistent, as we are way far away from our punky days. It involved watching the final episode of Madmen the last night she was here, which was the first time I’d seen the show, and having cocktails and pizza at the bar of a local restaurant on her first night. As tweens we loved cooking and eating hot dogs, canned ravioli, frozen wanton soup and of course Progresso minestrone soup with lots of parmesan cheese. Now, we both love seltzer. It was also the first time in ages I had anybody stay over for more than one night. But, it was okay. It worked out well and didn’t even seem to last the four days and three nights as the time was filled with nonstop conversation. Isn’t it funny how someone you knew pretty well in junior high and early high school, someone who you thought was self-assured and confident, was just as insecure as you were? That’s one of the things I learned about trouble-buddy and wonder if that’s something she felt, and feels about me as well. Cause I was a mass of insecurities. And that leads to all sorts of things, mostly mistakes. Sometimes though when I hear other women’s stories about the men in their lives, and not just trouble-buddy’s, I feel the need to call the ex and thank him for not being the worst boyfriend in the world. But I don’t want to let him off that easy.

Did I ever mention the time when my boyfriend who looked like Bruce Springsteen (not the ex) and I saw Paul Schaefer somewhere west of the Winter Garden Theater one cold winter day, oh about 32 years ago? He was wrapped in one of those long down coats that practically devoured him, and he smiled at us when my boyfriend (the one that looked like Bruce Springsteen) said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Paul Schaefer.” We were fans from the get-go and it was so early in his tenure as a late night fixture that he probably hadn’t tire of hearing that yet. And with that fond memory, I would like to thank David Letterman for years of unconventional hilarity and complete enjoyment on my part. Thank you very much. It was greatly appreciated.